That way only That right. That OK? That’ll do. That’s that then. I’ll leave that to you. That’s not what I said. That’s enough. No, not that. That’s the stuff. That your suitcase, sir? That what you think? Fancy that.…

Yvonne du Fresne 1929-2011 Yvonne du Fresne was one of New Zealand’s finest writers of literary fiction, her work exploring the experiences of this country’s European migrant communities. Born in Takaka in 1929, du Fresne was a second-generation New Zealander…

How to Watch the Rugby World Cup 2011 Spiro Zavos Awa Press, $30.00, ISBN 9781877551093 How timely – a book to help desperate All Black fans get through that most harrowing of experiences, the Rugby World Cup. Despite being…

The Movie May Be Slightly Different Vincent O’Sullivan Victoria University Press, $30.00, ISBN 97800864736437 Adorno’s term for those last, wild works of Beethoven’s was “late style”, describing a maturity that is for the most part not round, but furrowed…

Inside Stories: A History of the New Zealand Housewife 1890-1975 Frances Walsh Godwit, $49.99, ISBN 9781869621650 I was really looking forward to this book. As soon as I could read, I started reading my mother’s magazines. Every week she…

From Kai to Kiwi Kitchen: New Zealand Culinary Traditions and Cookbooks Helen Leach (ed) Otago University Press, $40.00, ISBN 978877372759 Graham Kerr famously said that New Zealand had no culinary tradition, but, as a chef, he probably judged us…

Tupaia: The Remarkable Story of Captain Cook’s Polynesian Navigator Joan Druett Random House, $55.00, ISBN 9781869793869 One of the great virtues of Joan Druett’s style of historical writing in this extensive reassessment of Tupaia’s role in Pacific history, is…

Blue Smoke: The Lost Dawn of New Zealand Popular Music 1918-1964 Chris Bourke Auckland University Press, $59.99, ISBN 9781869404550 To anybody under the age of 25, it might come as a shock to read Chris Bourke’s book and discover…

Little Criminals: The Story of a New Zealand Boys’ Home David Cohen Random House, $39.99, ISBN 9781869790325 Our attitudes towards the welfare of our children seem to lurch between outrage and indifference. When a child is grossly abused or…